Primus No.5 fettle/rebuild

This was a fettle/rebuild of a 1927 Primus 5 shell that I bought at a car boot sale last year for £1.



Someone had stripped it of all the components, and even removed the airscrew and tube. The tube had been factory soldered into the filler lid boss via a rectangular hole presumably to reduce the torsion stresses on the solder joint when tightening and loosening the air screw.



To make a replacement tube, I started with brass rod



and shaped one end to fit in the rectangular hole. Then I drilled a 2mm hole all the way through. The end to be soldered then looked similar to a NRV.



Then a 4.5mm hole was drilled three quarters the way through from the other end, and then threaded (1 BA tap, as reported here).



and soldered



The previous owner had left the pump tube with NRV in place,



so with a spare filler cap and pump assembly, I could then do a soap solution pressure check.

The pressure check showed that the airscrew and filler cap assembly were now gas tight, but the pump tube and possibly the NRV were leaking.



so no option but to remove the pump tube.



I checked the NRV for leaks under normal pressure (stove pump) and reverse pressure (bicycle pump)
in a bucket of water and the NRV functioned normally and did not leak.



So, a quick clean up and flux of the solder surfaces,



permanent ink over the threads on the pump tube and puller (so the solder didn't creep into the threads)



and resoldered into place.

A full immersion test under pressure now showed no leaks,



All that remained was to rinse, dry and fill the tank, then fit a spare silent burner and test.



A satisfying fettle on a wet afternoon.

 

Well done - another old stove rescued!

 

. Very well done.

Alex

 

Congratulations ​

 

Wow man, nice work.

 

Excellent, Duncan, my sort of project, although I have never had to make a pressure release tube before (always been lucky enough to have a couple of spare salvaged tubes available)
Ian

@Twoberth

 

@Twoberth

A fantastic tutorial and restoration. I won’t say far beyond my skills because I have never tried to do it but certainly way beyond my confidence levels.

Regards Jeremy

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

@Twoberth man that is great work. I did a Valor 55 last year. Enjoyable for sure. I was one I found under my late fathers shed. It good to see these old pieces of history beibg brought back to life.

Clyde

 

brilliant work hope to reach your skill level

 

Soo good the restoration, and history too. Well done. This virus is bringing out the best of us.
Cheers
Rob

 

Good job